The United States and Germany are sending Patriot missiles and troops to the Turkish border, a warning to Syria's besieged President Bashar al-Assad.

The surface-to-air interceptors would be "dealing with threats that come out of Syria," said U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Threats would include Syrian strikes inside Turkey and fighting between the government and rebels that extends into Turkey.

Errant Syrian artillery shells struck the Turkish border town of Akcakale and killed five Turkish civilians in October.

"We can't spend a lot of time worrying about whether that pisses off Syria," said Panetta after signing the order Friday. He spoke after arriving Friday at Turkey's Incirlik Air Base, a U.S. Air Force installation about 80 miles from Syria's border.